Linklaters' corporate team has put in a commanding performance in the first-half M&A rankings with the magic circle firm topping separate rankings for Europe, UK, global and Asian deals.

The firm comfortably outpaced rivals in the key European M&A tables on both value and volume in the first half of 2008, with Linklaters advising on 108 deals in Europe worth E229.4bn (£182bn) and 43 deals in the UK worth E198.1bn (£157bn).

The rankings, provided exclusively to Legal Week by its data partner Mergermarket, show Linklaters securing the top spot for deal activity after winning a string of major bids, including advising Belgian brewer InBev on its proposed $46bn (£23.1bn) takeover of US beer giant Anheuser-Busch.

Allen & Overy (A&O) also cemented a strong corporate run after advising on 84 deals with a total value of E201.6bn (£160bn), making it the third-highest placed firm in European M&A.

Linklaters corporate head David Barnes commented: "The trend towards deals being strongly multi-jurisdictional has increased over the last six months. We are well-placed to handle that."

He added: "While the first quarter was fine, the second has seen a fairly decent pick-up in activity. People are now adapting to the uncertainties of the economic climate and deciding what they want to do with it."

However, Linklaters' ranking will be seen as underlining the importance of a handful of big-ticket mandates in an uncertain transactional market that has seen deal values plummet from levels witnessed in 2006 and early 2007.

In particular, firms to have received credit for BHP Billiton's E144bn (£114.2bn) bid for Rio Tinto, which alongside Linklaters and A&O also generated a lead role for Slaughter and May, have seen a dramatic uplift on their rankings.

In comparison, the two remaining members of London's 'big four', Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance (CC), saw dramatic falls in their value ranking in the European and global rankings compared to 2007. Nevertheless, the magic circle duo managed similar levels of deal activity to their peer group, with CC advising on 98 announced European deals against 97 at Freshfields.

CC corporate head Peter Charlton said: "Our deal volume reflects a strong and consistent performance and we have a healthy pipeline. Looking at the tables it is clear that one or two transactions are having a material impact on value rankings."

Other firms to rank highly in the European tables by volume are DLA Piper, CMS Cameron McKenna and White & Case, which respectively advised on 78, 72 and 60 deals.

DLA Piper corporate partner Bob Bishop said: "We have a strong client base of strategic corporates that remains active and we are positioned in the right sectors."

Central and Eastern Europe, Germany and the Netherlands were cited as busy markets while real estate, retail and consumer markets were cited as quiet for large-scale deals, with activity driven mainly by the energy, infrastructure and telecommunications sectors.

DLA Piper also performed strongly in the UK M&A tables, topping the rankings for volume after acting on 53 deals.